Bryan Ruiz

Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer.

A left-footed attacking midfielder, he also played as a second striker.

Ruiz is the only Central American footballer to have played in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores.

Ruiz began his professional career at 18, making his debut for Liga Deportiva Alajuelense on 30 November 2003 against Municipal Pérez Zeledón, in Costa Rica's top division.

He formed a trio with 2 strikers, Rolando Fonseca and Froylán Ledezma, where he built a reputation as a goalscorer and a play maker.

Ruiz scored his first goal on 23 December 2003 against Ramonense, netting twice against Fernando Patterson.

In Alajuelense, he was nicknamed La Comadreja (The Weasel), for his facial profile.

He was on the team when it won regional titles such as the UNCAF Cup and the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Ruiz made his debut for Costa Rica against China on 19 June 2005.

In the summer of 2006, Ruiz was signed by Gent in a four-year deal along with Randall Azofeifa from Deportivo Saprissa and Roy Myrie from Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.

He scored his first hat-trick playing on 8 December 2007 against Lokeren.

In that season in the Belgian League, he was the captain and top scorer for the team.

On 15 July 2009, the Dutch club FC Twente announced that they had signed Ruiz for a fee of around €5 million, and agreed to receive a percentage of a subsequent transfer.

He signed a four-year deal with the Eredivisie side.

Ruiz made his debut for the new club by scoring the second goal of the match, with an assist from another newcomer, Miroslav Stoch, in an away defeat of Sparta Rotterdam.

His goal against NAC Breda on 12 December 2009 marked the tenth consecutive match in which he had scored.

On 27 March 2010, Ruiz made one of the quickest hat-tricks ever against Sparta, with goals in the 46th, 49th and 50th minutes.

On 2 May 2010, FC Twente were crowned champions of Eredivisie for the first time in their history, with a 2–0 win at NAC Breda; Ruiz scored the first goal of the match during the 23rd minute of play.

He finished the season as top scorer for Twente with 24 goals in Eredivisie play.

In August 2011, Ruiz was being watched by scouts from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur; however, on 18 August 2011 Ruiz claimed that Fulham was in talks with him.

He stated to a local source "Fulham is a serious option for me. "That is also a Premier League side and it is a fantastic league.

"Fulham already contacted my agent. If Fulham does become serious, we will definitely talk."

On 31 August 2011, the last day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Fulham announced signing Ruiz for an undisclosed fee.

His début was on Sunday, 11 September 2011 at home to Blackburn Rovers and he scored his first goal for Fulham in a 3–1 home defeat against Everton on 23 October 2011.

In the fixture against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on 7 April 2012, Ruiz broke a bone in his foot, leading to a stretcher taking him off and him needing an operation, which sidelined him for 10 weeks.

On 18 August 2012, Ruiz started Fulham's first Premier League game of the season, a 5–0 win against Norwich and assisted Mladen Petrić in scoring his second goal in his debut match.

He finished the 2012–13 season making 31 first-team appearances and scoring five goals.

Ruiz joined Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven on 15 January 2014, on loan until the end of the season.

He made his debut on 19 January 2014 in a 1–0 loss to Ajax and scored his first goal for the club on 14 February with a 63rd-minute winner against Heracles Almelo.

On 7 July 2015, Ruiz joined Sporting CP on a three-year contract.

He made his debut for the club in the 2015 Supertaça match against Lisbon rivals S.L. Benfica, which Sporting won 1–0.

On 1 October 2015, Ruiz scored his first goal for Sporting against Beşiktaş in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.

His first goal in the Primeira Liga came in a 3–0 Lisbon derby defeat of Benfica at the Estádio da Luz on 25 October.

In another derby, on 5 March 2016, he missed an open goal, and Benfica won the match 1–0 at Estádio José Alvalade, knocking out Sporting to second place in the league.

On 11 July 2018, free agent Ruiz signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Santos FC.

He made his debut for the club on 8 August, replacing Diego Pituca at half-time in a 1–1 away draw against Ceará.

After only 12 league matches during his first season, Ruiz failed to appear a single minute during his second, under Jorge Sampaoli.

On 13 July 2020, after again failing to play under Jesualdo Ferreira, he terminated his contract with the club after alleging "wage breaches and moral damage".

On 23 July 2020, Ruiz announced his return to Alajuelense.

In December 2022, he officially retired from the professional game, and marked the occasion by participating in a friendly between Alajuelense and his former club Twente.